Business

As if there weren't enough for e-commerce to worry about -- quick, somebody make sure Amazon is still up -- it seems that some people are concerned about a potential Internet backlash. That's right, people are leaving the Web behind. By all accounts, this situation should raise some red flags. But ...

Divisions of Ford Motor Company, DaimlerChrysler, and General Motors announced Thursday that they are partnering with imaging and information services company Bell & Howell to form a new online parts and service portal, catering to auto dealers and their wholesale customers. Bell & Howell s...

We are continually promised that our online buying experiences will be simple, hassle-free, life-affirming, soul-enriching and that indeed, simply by allowing our money to be spent in this new best-of-all-possible worlds, we may achieve a state of ecstasy. If ecstasy can be defined as a state of f...

Amazon.com has inked a content agreement with venerable product-testing organization Consumers Union -- the publisher of Consumer Reports and Consumer Reports Online -- that will allow the Internet giant to publish "unbiased" product advice summaries, merchandise information and ratings on its s...

Online automobile seller CarsDirect.com announced Wednesday it has suspended plans for an initial public offering (IPO), saying that the market for new issues is too weak. "Market conditions today are simply unreceptive to new offerings, prompting us to delay our IPO," said Bob Brisco, chief executi...

Just one day after women's online network Oxygen Media said it was paring down its workforce and consolidating operations, niche competitor Women.com announced that it is laying off 25 percent of its workforce in a bid to trim expenses and achieve profitability. As part of what the company called...

Few countries around the world have passed laws targeting online criminal activity, posing a threat to e-commerce and technological growth, according to a report released Wednesday. McConnell International, a security consulting firm based in Washington, D.C., found that 9 of 52 countries it studi...

Ventro Corp. (Nasdaq: VNTR) rose 11/32 to 2 7/32 Wednesday after announcing a restructuring that includes the shuttering of its Chemix and Promedix online marketplace divisions. The Mountain View, California-based operator of business-to-business (B2B) marketplaces had been seeking buyers for Chemd...

Internet consulting company Scient (Nasdaq: SCNT) was down 2 1/16 at 2 7/16 early Thursday after the company said results for the quarter ending December 31st will be worse than previously expected. The San Francisco, California-based firm said an industry-wide slowdown put pressure on results. To ...

Critical Path, Inc. (Nasdaq: CPTH) dropped 3 5/16 to 24 5/8 in the first few minutes of trading Thursday after the company, which provides business-to-business (B2B) Internet messaging services and software, announced a new chief financial officer. The plunge, amid a general decline in technology ...

A "lousy" online advertising climate led influential Merrill Lynch analyst Henry Blodget on Wednesday to cut first and second quarter fiscal year 2001 revenue estimates for Web powerhouse Yahoo!, which relies heavily on advertising revenue. However, Blodget said he expects Yahoo! to rebound in the ...

Tower Records and MP3.com announced a deal Wednesday that will provide customers with immediate online streaming access to music they purchase from TowerRecords.com, and eventually Tower Records brick-and-mortar retail stores. The agreement to extend MP3's "Instant Listening" service to Tower was ...

In sharp contrast to the consumer resistance that online car dealers are experiencing in the U.S., General Motors has sold over 8,000 Chevrolet Celta cars in Brazil via the Web since mid-September. GM said Tuesday that within the next few months more than 80 percent of its expected 25,000 Brazili...

Doesn't all the recent attention paid to "micropayments" indicate that the e-commerce model we all know and love could be deeply flawed? Not quite. But this idea may gain a whole lot of momentum in 2001, thanks to the profit-seekers and a maturing infrastructure being provided by players like C...

The civil rights group that filed a discrimination lawsuit against online delivery service Kozmo.com earlier this year announced Tuesday that it will not pursue the suit as part of a agreement brokered by the parties to increase Internet access in underserved communities in Washington, D.C. The Equ...